Brilliancy Has Its Limits
by withered sage
Summary: While searching the Fire Nation palace for something to do, Sokka stumbles upon something he really didn't want to see. Ever. Sometimes brilliant ideas aren't so brilliant after all. AU one-shot with strong hints of Zutara.


_Real quick: this is an AU. Some of it's explained, but not all—this is just a quick one-shot that I banged out in one go. But here's a summary: Sokka is around twenty-two years old, on a diplomatic visit to the Fire Nation for some international conference. He and Zuko aren't friends, because they barely even spoken to each other. The war as we know it didn't happen. That's about all you really need to know._

_Also, if I owned Avatar: The Last Airbender there would be a lot more…_fun_ things going on. Hehe._

* * *

Sokka is looking for somebody.

Specifically, he's looking for Prince Zuko, and the guy is a lot harder to find than Sokka would have originally thought. But he has started this quest, and he cannot give up now! It would be unmanly.

He's been wandering the halls of the Fire Nation palace for the last twenty minutes trying to think of places where the elusive prince might be. Unfortunately, Sokka has only been to the palace a grand total of three times, and one of them was when he was two. So, it's really more like two and a half times. There's only so much you can know about a place when you've only been there two and a half times. Not particularly helpful in his present situation.

He's checked the throne room: nope, no Prince Zuko.

He's checked the gardens: not there, either.

He's checked the kitchens: nada (although there was a very tasty-looking batch of fruit tarts cooling on the counter. Suffice to say, that batch is now one tart short).

He's checked the training grounds, which is Sokka's ultimate destination if he ever manages to find the sneaky bastard: still nothing.

Tui and La! Where the fuck is this guy? Does he turn into invisible mist and just float through walls or something?

"Just great, stuck in this jerkbender palace looking for some floaty-footed mist-man—" Sokka has taken to whining to himself as he trudges through the (ridiculously, in his opinion) large corridors in search of his target. If there were something better to do, he'd be all over it like stripes on a tiger seal, but his dad and Chief Arnook are having "special chief time" and Sokka is not invited. This annoys him, because all they're doing is getting drunk on their supply of pilfered plum wine from the kitchens (it's the middle of the afternoon, too, what the fuck?), but he guesses that's a battle for another day. Bato and the other representatives are stuck in a meeting about the sales tax of salamander eggs, which apparently people here eat, and Sokka would rather claw his own eyes out than spend hours arguing about a "food" that he will never _ever _let _anywhere_ near his tongue.

He's still too embarrassed to show his face—heartbeat—_whatever_—around the blind earthbending noblewoman who drank him under the table the other night—where she put all that alcohol, he will never know—and the other Earth Kingdom delegates are either too stuffy or too old or both to bother with.

La forbid he should have to spend the afternoon with _Hahn _(motherfucking girlfriend stealer), so hanging out with the Northern Tribe's warriors is out. And Katara said that she would be busy until dinner.

So, Sokka has decided to seek out Prince Zuko, aka Floaty-Footed Mist-Man, for a little sword practice. Katara mentioned that the prince has some skills: apparently he mastered swordsmanship by the time he was sixteen. Well, Sokka is just going to have to put his "mastery" to the test.

One problem: he still hasn't found him.

Grumbling to himself about mist and floating, Sokka rounds another corner and nearly runs smack into a couple of servants. The girls quickly bow with a murmured "Your Highness". Sokka still hasn't gotten used to how, well, _servile_ the palace staff is. Or how weirdly formal they all are. Back in the South Pole he's not really thought of as royalty, whereas here he's been saddled with the title of "prince" so that the servants know what to call him. But they're a whole hell of a lot better than the creepy-ass servants in the Earth King's palace, so he's not going to complain. He nods awkwardly at them and is about to let them pass when he gets a Brilliant Idea.

"Wait!" he says. They stop and look back at him, glancing at each other with wide eyes before bowing again.

"Yes, Your Highness?" one of them asks politely.

"Uh, you wouldn't happen to know where Flo—ahem, where Prince Zuko is, would you?" He flashes them his trademark Water Tribe grin.

The girls blink at him. Hesitantly, one of them speaks up. "Um, I saw him earlier when I was in the north wing." Then, quickly, so quickly he would have missed it if he blinked, they smirk at each other.

Well that was weird. He thanks them anyway with another charm-filled grin and sets off in the direction of the north wing. This is one part of the palace that he _does_ know. Katara lives there.

Fire Lord Iroh decided that, as the full-time Ambassador of the Southern Water Tribe, she deserved rooms in the palace itself. His sister has been living here for the past five years. Neither he or Hakoda, or even really Katara for that matter, had wanted her to move to the Fire Nation, but she was the most qualified for the job, albeit only sixteen at the time. Sokka knows that she misses the South Pole, but hey, at least the digs are nice.

He treks through the obnoxiously huge palace (again, why does it need to be this big? Don't only, like, five people need to actually live here?) until he reaches his destination: the north wing, home to Very Important Guests. He briefly wonders why Prince Zuko would be hanging around here but dismisses it. Who knows what floaty-footed mist-men do in their spare time?

Sokka scans the halls, but there is still_ no sign of Prince Zuko._ He's about to go punch a tapestry or something when he is suddenly struck by another Brilliant Idea.

He knows that Katara said she would be busy, but surely she won't mind him popping in to ask if she's seen the prince! After all, Katara is a kind of Very Important Guest, so it's likely that she's had some sort of communication with him. His Brilliant Idea still glimmering in his head, Sokka heads over to her rooms. Not bothering to knock, he opens her door and sticks his head in.

He is promptly dumbfounded by what he sees.

Prince Zuko is blindfolded and tied to his sister's bedpost with what looks like some very sturdy rope. He is also inexplicably bare-chested. Sokka takes this in for a full five seconds, not able to do much more than blink in astonishment. His mouth opens and closes several times before his brain clears and he starts to ask_ just what the fuck is going on_?

"What—"

"Sokka!" Katara's horrified gasp alerts him to his sister's position.

On her knees.

In front of Prince Zuko.

_Who isn't wearing any pants._

Sokka has never fainted before in his life, but he thinks that today might be the day.

"I'm going to throw up." He lurches away from the door and bends over, desperately trying to erase the things that his eyes have seen. Eyes which are now about to fall out of his head from the sheer horror of what they just witnessed.

Dimly he hears a flurry of cursing from inside the bedroom, then a slamming door, and suddenly Katara is frantically whispering at him not to freak out.

"—can't tell Dad, Sokka, nobody knows, it has to be a secret, why the fuck didn't you _knock_—"

"There shouldn't be a _reason_ for me to knock!" His voice is decidedly _not_ a whisper when he straightens up and looks at her. But then he notices that her lips are thicker than they usually are and the horror continues, forcing a terrible gagging noise out of his throat.

"Agni, Sokka, be quiet—" Katara is cut off by the sound of a door opening down the hall. Sokka looks up to see an elderly Earth Kingdom nobleman sticking his head out of his room and staring at them. His sister forces out a strained chuckle and feigns nonchalance. "Nothing to see here, Lord Huan. Sorry to disturb you." Sokka doesn't bother to hide his gagging, and Lord Huan frowns at them before retracting his head.

Katara turns back to him and she definitely has a case of the crazy eyes. But before she can start whisper-shouting at him again, Sokka realizes the horrifying truth.

"The smirk!" he wails, flinging his head back in anguish. "They knew and they didn't tell me! How can one human being do such a thing to a member of their own species?"

"Sokka, what are you talking about?" Katara is looking at him with a mixture of astonishment and apprehension. Dressed as she is in a red Fire Nation robe, Sokka finds it hard to look at her at the moment.

"I hate this place," he says suddenly. "I hate this place and I am leaving. _You_ are leaving. Right now. We're going, Katara." He's grabbed her wrist and started dragging her down the hall. "Back to the South Pole where there are no floaty-footed, sister-ruining mist—"

Katara yanks her arm out of his grip. "Stop it, Sokka. I'm not going anywhere."

Sokka whirls around. "Oh yes you are. We are getting Dad and we are leaving and we are _not _coming back."

"Who the fuck gives you the right—"

"I am your brother and I am doing what's best for you!" he shouts.

"No you're not!" his sister screams back at him. Katara has broken out her angry face (a force to be reckoned with), and she has turned it on full-strength. "You're being stupid and judging me before I've even explained to you what's going on!"

"Your explanation won't mean very much, Katara, because clearly you've gone insane! You obviously don't know what's good for you—"

She looks like she's going to strangle him. "So, what now, you're going to control my life like Arnook controls Yue's?!"

Oh, she did not just go there.

Her screech echoes in the hallway, and Sokka feels ice knot in his stomach. He is furious, and he stares down at his sister with a hard look on his face. Katara realizes what she said, and her eyes widen in shock. She opens her mouth, but then a firm look crosses her face and she closes it again, looking up at her brother with a defiant expression.

Suddenly Sokka feels the fight drain out of him. She's right. Katara is a strong woman, and she can take care of herself. Still, he has to be sure. He looks at her sternly and quietly asks, "Katara, did he make you, somehow? Just tell me the truth." She blinks at him, and her features lose their defiant cast.

"What? I—no, Sokka, no. I'm in love with him." The warrior looks down at his sister, at the way her face has softened with the declaration, and sighs.

"Alright, then. I trust you, Katara." He can feel that his face has settled into a resigned sort of expression, but it's the best he can manage at the moment. His sister seems to understand this and smiles gently at him.

"Thanks, Sokka. I knew you would come around." Her mouth twists. "Eventually."

"Yeah yeah." He waves her off and rubs a hand over his eyes. He might need to claw those out after all, though. It's a thought that bears considering. They stand together for a moment in the hall, quietly accepting the other's presence.

"So," Katara breaks the silence, "what did you come to see me for?"

A dry laugh escapes from Sokka's throat. "I was going to ask if you'd seen Zuko. I wanted to see if he was interested in some sword practice."

"Oh." She bites her lip. "Well, I guess he was kind of already doing that." Sokka covers his face and lets out an agonized groan. "Too soon?"

"It will never _not_ be too soon," he answers, melodramatically peeking out at her through his fingers. Katara purses her lips, but she can't hold back a giggle. Sokka pretends to glare at her, and before they know it the two Water Tribe siblings are laughing hysterically, their arms slung over each other's shoulders. Nothing can come between them for long.

* * *

Later, though, while making his way back to his room, Sokka thinks that he will definitely be challenging Prince Zuko the Floaty-Footed Mist-Man to a long, drawn-out sparring session. And he is going _down_.

* * *

_A/N: __**REVIEW! **__(please)_

_So, yeah. That happened. Seriously guys, I wrote this at three a.m. on a Sunday night (Monday morning?), so who knows where this came from. It just popped into my head, and I thought, well, instead of sleeping so that I can be well-rested for class tomorrow, I'll stay up late and write a one-shot! My priorities might need some re-arranging. Oh well. Hope you liked it!_


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